We have so much debt, it seems only hope is selling house!

[wilchil64]

Due to my husband being made redundant several times over past ten years and now working contracts, we now have so much debt that I don't know what to do.

 

I have looked at CCCS and National Debtline but to be honest it just looks like too much hard work, I can't cope with it.

 

My husband gets paid weekly so I can't pay CCCS a monthly sum for them to pay amounts to the people we owe to as they suggest in a debt management plan, as I can't find the amount they would need a month in one sum.

 

The other suggestion is selling our house and using that to pay our debts but first of all how do we sell our house these days? No houses in the area are selling! Also where do we live then? Can I take my 2 cats plus another we look after for a friend and our tropical fish into rented accommodation? I have no one who could look after them for me (the cats) and won't give them away.

 

Having said that, we have had the house valued and are waiting for one more valuation before deciding who to go with, as we will try to sell it, but that means finding £85 for an energy proficiency certificate! Impossible at the moment!

Then, what happens in the future if we sell our house? We have never had any money to put away for a pension so presumed our house would be our investment for when we retire (we are 45 and 39). If we sell the house and use the money to pay the debt (and yes all equity would go on debt) what happens later?

 

I think I am past caring anyway. Everything is going wrong and I can't take anymore. I'm stressing about it more or less on my own. My husband sticks his head in the sand and says it'll be ok, we'll use the credit card until there's money in the account.

 

He can't do anything, no DIY, can't mend cars, so he wants everything new so that it doesn't need repairing or we just end up paying a fortune to take cars etc in for mending.

 

I work part time in the evening but can't work during the day as I home educate my daughter.

 

I've cut down everything I can, food - I spend 50 quid a week on food and cook from scratch. I shop with Tesco online to avoid impulse buys My husband is responsible for a large area at work so spends a lot on fuel but claims travel expenses through work. I rarely buy clothes or stuff and if needed I mostly buy them on Ebay second hand! We don't have flash holidays, we don't go clubbing, we don't drink (apart from 2 drinks each at pub quiz night in the local pub, but have stopped that now). We don't do anything flash - just have a far too big and expensive house and have had bad luck with periods of redundancy, when we used our credit cards to live off - have now spent 10 years transferring debt from one card to another and am fed up - it never gets paid off. I've transferred quite a lot of personal loans in a desperate attempt to make sure it gets paid off eventually but that meant our monthly costs went up.

I have cut down on music lessons for my dd to fortnightly instead of weekly. I am considering selling my car but then can't get to music or drama with my dd.

 

I have just sold some clothes on Ebay and made £50 but don't have much else worth selling.

 

My husband earns too much for us to claim any benefits.

 

I don't know what else to do.

 

Debt is as follows:

 

One personal loan fo 7 years of £10,500 plus interest.

One personal loan don't know how much it is but think there are 3 years to go at £109 per month.

One credit card with £10,500 on it, 0% interest for 12 months

One credit card with £4000 (just transferred) with low interest of 5.9% for life of balance transfer

Catalogue - £665.

HP for car, only paid 1.5 years, have at least 4 to go, at £296 per month.

HP for TV not sure how long but will be about £1000 plus interest.

HP for furniture, only owe £150, will be paid off in about 4 or 5 months I think.

 

What a nightmare!

 

Any help or advice appreciated!

[Rhia]

Hmm. Not sure I am up to this one but my thoughts are this - your home comes first so I would make sure the mortage is paid.

 

I am sure you have a number of reasons for home educating your daughter and perhaps personal of me to suggest you find a good school for her and then you could work full time. (Apologies in advance if there's an unavoidable reason you can't).

 

Then I'm afraid you have to get down and put a plan together for the rest. If CCCS or National Debtline is a no no (although I think they are good as if it gets legal they can help with lawyers I believe) then the only other way is to write to each and every creditor and offer what you can.

 

Both the organisations mentioned before have template letters and if you look here CAG has suggestions too.

 

As for the debts - my own observations are the furniture one will soon be gone so hold on

 

The TV - well £1k telly is quite an extravagance when you can get good ones for a couple of hundred quid. I'd negotiate with them to take it back.

 

The car? Well second hand prices are collapsing at the moment. Do you really, really need it? Can you try a healthy option on bus or bike?

 

But all the above is sortable. It's the credit cards and loans that are the killers - particularly the credit cards. Cut them up and make an offer to pay back at a rate you can afford. Are there any charges and PPI (insurance) you can claim back?

 

See if the loan people can help you and again any charges and PPI? I know there are companies out there who will claim to be able to make your loans unenforceable but unless there is something very wrong it is unlikely for this to happen so don't be taken in by these companies.

 

The only way is to write it all down incomings and outgoings see where you can make savings and just start to pay it off in a tidy fashion.

 

This is meant to help in some way, I hope it does.

 

P.S. Have a look at this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-management-debt-self/258600-final-settlement-offer-advice.html

Edited June 14, 2010 by Rhia

[senferlaka]

believe me, i am on CCCS and its not easy, all creditors are still charging interest and i pay £237 a month to them and hardly any debt come down. I don't think its such a good thing going with a DMP and i am considering come off it. It just helps the creditors to stay off your back for a very short time and then they come back at you with a vengeance. I know how you feel and after 12 months of fighting to pay my way i am still struggling, you're not alone

[wilchil64]

Hmm. Not sure I am up to this one but my thoughts are this - your home comes first so I would make sure the mortage is paid.

Yes, the mortgage is direct debit and always paid.

I am sure you have a number of reasons for home educating your daughter and perhaps personal of me to suggest you find a good school for her and then you could work full time. (Apologies in advance if there's an unavoidable reason you can't).

Not an option at the moment, no good schools in the area and my daughter is a different child since being home educated, I can't change this. Plus if I went full-time - and I would need to to earn a decent amount of money - I would have high child care costs as she is 9.

Then I'm afraid you have to get down and put a plan together for the rest. If CCCS or National Debtline is a no no (although I think they are good as if it gets legal they can help with lawyers I believe) then the only other way is to write to each and every creditor and offer what you can.

Both the organisations mentioned before have template letters and if you look here CAG has suggestions too.

As for the debts - my own observations are the furniture one will soon be gone so hold on

The TV - well £1k telly is quite an extravagance when you can get good ones for a couple of hundred quid. I'd negotiate with them to take it back.

Actually it was for TV and DVD but correct, it is an extravagance but was bought last August, they won't take it back now, I'm sure. Can't sell it because of the HP.

The car? Well second hand prices are collapsing at the moment. Do you really, really need it? Can you try a healthy option on bus or bike?

My husband's car is HP so can't go back until half way thru the payment period which is over a year away. I need my car to take my daughter to and from different groups etc., it's too far to bike and buses run rarely in our village.

But all the above is sortable. It's the credit cards and loans that are the killers - particularly the credit cards. Cut them up and make an offer to pay back at a rate you can afford. Are there any charges and PPI (insurance) you can claim back?

We have claimed bank charges back, no more to claim.

See if the loan people can help you and again any charges and PPI? I know there are companies out there who will claim to be able to make your loans unenforceable but unless there is something very wrong it is unlikely for this to happen so don't be taken in by these companies.

The only way is to write it all down incomings and outgoings see where you can make savings and just start to pay it off in a tidy fashion.

This is meant to help in some way, I hope it does.

P.S. Have a look at this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-management-debt-self/258600-final-settlement-offer-advice.html

Thank you.

[Rhia]

WilChil I actually think what they are talking about on the F&F thread is worth considering. I know it's desperate stuff but you are ina tight spot.

 

Either that or just go to each and write your own letter and offer whatever you can. JUst hang onto that house if you possibly can. Perhaps if you can dump some of the cc and loan debts you could see the way ahead a bit clearer.

 

 

I can't quite remember but with car HP if you have paid so much they can't reposess.

 

It is hard but if you can take control you will be amazed how much more confident you will feel. One thing not to do is look at the whole thing and panic.

[Undercover-Elsa]

Hi and welcome to CAG

Your situation isn't unusual on here, and there are various ways to approach your problem.

As above you can look at ways to come to repayment arrangements, either directly yourself or through the free DMC's.

However, I personally would first make sure that these companies have the right to demand the money from you and that the amount they are demanding is correct.

To do this you need to send a request for the Consumer Credit Agreement for each loan or credit card. The template letter for this is below (CCA Request)

Is there any Payment Protection Insurance on these debts? It may have been missold and could be reclaimed.

Are there any unfair charges on the credit cards (late payment fees/over limit fees etc)? These could also possibly be reclaimed to reduce the balance.

Take it one step at a time. Prioritise your debts and always pay the mortgage, Council Tax, Utility Bills and of course food before any of your commercial, non priority debts.

 

Well done for finding CAG and starting to take control.

Whichever route you choose, keep us informed and you'll get lots of help and support on here.

Elsa x

[The Mould]

Due to my husband being made redundant several times over past ten years and now working contracts, we now have so much debt that I don't know what to do.

 

I have looked at CCCS and National Debtline but to be honest it just looks like too much hard work, I can't cope with it.

 

My husband gets paid weekly so I can't pay CCCS a monthly sum for them to pay amounts to the people we owe to as they suggest in a debt management plan, as I can't find the amount they would need a month in one sum.

 

The other suggestion is selling our house and using that to pay our debts but first of all how do we sell our house these days? No houses in the area are selling! Also where do we live then? Can I take my 2 cats plus another we look after for a friend and our tropical fish into rented accommodation? I have no one who could look after them for me (the cats) and won't give them away.

 

 

 

Having said that, we have had the house valued and are waiting for one more valuation before deciding who to go with, as we will try to sell it, but that means finding £85 for an energy proficiency certificate! Impossible at the moment!

 

 

Then, what happens in the future if we sell our house? We have never had any money to put away for a pension so presumed our house would be our investment for when we retire (we are 45 and 39). If we sell the house and use the money to pay the debt (and yes all equity would go on debt) what happens later?

 

I think I am past caring anyway. Everything is going wrong and I can't take anymore. I'm stressing about it more or less on my own. My husband sticks his head in the sand and says it'll be ok, we'll use the credit card until there's money in the account.

 

He can't do anything, no DIY, can't mend cars, so he wants everything new so that it doesn't need repairing or we just end up paying a fortune to take cars etc in for mending.

 

I work part time in the evening but can't work during the day as I home educate my daughter.

 

I've cut down everything I can, food - I spend 50 quid a week on food and cook from scratch. I shop with Tesco online to avoid impulse buys My husband is responsible for a large area at work so spends a lot on fuel but claims travel expenses through work. I rarely buy clothes or stuff and if needed I mostly buy them on Ebay second hand! We don't have flash holidays, we don't go clubbing, we don't drink (apart from 2 drinks each at pub quiz night in the local pub, but have stopped that now). We don't do anything flash - just have a far too big and expensive house and have had bad luck with periods of redundancy, when we used our credit cards to live off - have now spent 10 years transferring debt from one card to another and am fed up - it never gets paid off. I've transferred quite a lot of personal loans in a desperate attempt to make sure it gets paid off eventually but that meant our monthly costs went up.

 

 

I have cut down on music lessons for my dd to fortnightly instead of weekly. I am considering selling my car but then can't get to music or drama with my dd.

 

I have just sold some clothes on Ebay and made £50 but don't have much else worth selling.

 

My husband earns too much for us to claim any benefits.

 

I don't know what else to do.

 

 

Debt is as follows:

 

 

One personal loan fo 7 years of £10,500 plus interest.

One personal loan don't know how much it is but think there are 3 years to go at £109 per month.

One credit card with £10,500 on it, 0% interest for 12 months

One credit card with £4000 (just transferred) with low interest of 5.9% for life of balance transfer

Catalogue - £665.

HP for car, only paid 1.5 years, have at least 4 to go, at £296 per month.

HP for TV not sure how long but will be about £1000 plus interest.

HP for furniture, only owe £150, will be paid off in about 4 or 5 months I think.

 

 

What a nightmare!

 

 

 

Any help or advice appreciated!

 

 

 

Hello there wilchil,

 

 

Alright, you are up to your neck in debt, don't worry about it, because we are all drowning in debt, but you can stay afloat.

 

Well done for educating your child at home, that is the perfect place for your daughter to be, with you, as much as possible.

 

You say you have equity in your property, can you re-mortgage and consolidate, that would make it all more manageable and you keep your home?

 

Do you have a relative that could raise a lump sum of money and then offer Full and Final Settlements to your creditors?

 

As mentioned by another cagger, send off a CCA request to your creditors, how old are these loans/credit cards?

 

Try not to worry, we will see what we can do for you, we will be here and provide you with the help and support and advice that you need, you will not have to face this on your own, alright.

 

Kind Regards

 

The Mould

[banker_rhymes_with]

Hello The Mould!

 

You say you have equity in your property, can you re-mortgage and consolidate, that would make it all more manageable and you keep your home?

 

On this issue, I regret, I must disagree with you. No offence intended.

 

Never, ever, turn unsecured Debt into Secured Debt. All this will do is move the Debt from someone who cannot take the Home, over to someone who can, and probably will if they get the slightest chance.

 

I would say make the existing Mortgage the top priority, pay that regardless, and fight absolutely everything else.

 

Surviving this bank induced recession is the key. One way is to crash stop all other payments, and let them have £1 a Month for now, or nothing at all unless they appear to have a binding Agreement.

 

Start building cash, and accept the Card, HP and Loan bankers will make a lot of noise, and will go through the usual steps of Harassment via Phone, Letter and Debt Collection Monkey. Just appreciate what that is for what it is, i.e. those with the least power will make the most noise.

 

Make sure Food, Fuel, Services, Mortgage and Council Tax are covered.

 

What is left should be accumulated and protected.

 

Keep saving, and keep looking for ways to reduce outgoings.

 

If any of the Unsecured Creditors get very hostile, then investigate a Full & Final Offer to get rid of them. That may by then be possible if some Cash has been accumulated by then.

 

Indeed, that may be the overall strategy. Pay them off, one by one, as they get more hostile.

 

The overall aim being to dump all Debt until you are left with just the Mortgage, and then see what you can do to get rid of that too.

 

This won't be easy, and it will mean a bumpy ride for the next 6 years or so, but the aim is to get to year 6-10 with almost no Debt except for a dwindling Mortgage.

 

Once you reach that stage, and look back, you will know it was good advice.

 

Cheers,

BRW

[Rhia]

BRW is, as always, a source of solid advice. I agree with him entirely with regard to turning and unsecured debt into a secured one.

 

As I said before the loans and the credit cards are the real issue here. Attack those first and as as also been mentioned send for a copy of each agreement and see just what you have signed up for(if at all).

 

Perhaps an even better way is send for a full Subject Access Request for each loan and credit card debt but ensure you request specifically that they also supply the original agreement. Each request will cost £10 but you will get considerably more information than just a CCA request.

[Bigdebtor]

Wilchil

 

I know how hopeless things feel right now - but many of us here have been in a lot deeper debt - and are gradually climbing out of it.

 

I'll give you a brief history of my last 3 years - some of it might be relevant and helpful to you.

 

Firstly I found CCCS useful in terms of getting a case reference no - which gave me credibilty with creditors that I was trying to get things sorted out - and ideas on what creditors might accept (i.e. how low per month).

 

I found all except RBS/Direct line accepted frozen interest and affordable monthly payments. I am self employed and didn't have a regular monthly amount coming in - but just averaged out the weekly amounts into a nominal monthly amount to get an informal plan in place - no formal IVA. DMP or anything like that.

 

I have made many sacrifices - not replacing my car - now 11 years old - no recent holidays, luxuries etc. - but I have made colossal inroads into my total debts via reclaiming charges, testing enforceability of CCA's, dodginess of DN'sand TN's and offerring low (35%) short settlement F&F's. I did remortgae to fund the F&F's - but I think at 35% or so it was a good idea. If any OC were to sue me I still have a lot of equity in my house - but have never had anything reach court so far and don't expect it to.

 

There is a way out - but it needs a lot of work - and guts to field the phone calls and threatening letters etc. - but you won't be alone.

 

Good luck.

 

BD

 

b

[The Mould]

Hello The Mould!

 

 

 

On this issue, I regret, I must disagree with you. No offence intended.

 

Never, ever, turn unsecured Debt into Secured Debt. All this will do is move the Debt from someone who cannot take the Home, over to someone who can, and probably will if they get the slightest chance.

 

I would say make the existing Mortgage the top priority, pay that regardless, and fight absolutely everything else.

 

Surviving this bank induced recession is the key. One way is to crash stop all other payments, and let them have £1 a Month for now, or nothing at all unless they appear to have a binding Agreement.

 

Start building cash, and accept the Card, HP and Loan bankers will make a lot of noise, and will go through the usual steps of Harassment via Phone, Letter and Debt Collection Monkey. Just appreciate what that is for what it is, i.e. those with the least power will make the most noise.

 

Make sure Food, Fuel, Services, Mortgage and Council Tax are covered.

 

What is left should be accumulated and protected.

 

Keep saving, and keep looking for ways to reduce outgoings.

 

If any of the Unsecured Creditors get very hostile, then investigate a Full & Final Offer to get rid of them. That may by then be possible if some Cash has been accumulated by then.

 

Indeed, that may be the overall strategy. Pay them off, one by one, as they get more hostile.

 

The overall aim being to dump all Debt until you are left with just the Mortgage, and then see what you can do to get rid of that too.

 

This won't be easy, and it will mean a bumpy ride for the next 6 years or so, but the aim is to get to year 6-10 with almost no Debt except for a dwindling Mortgage.

 

Once you reach that stage, and look back, you will know it was good advice.

 

Cheers,

BRW

 

Hello there banker-rythmes-with,

 

No offence taken at all good fellow.

 

It seemed to me that the poster was extremely stressed (not surprisingly, given the situation).

 

If the poster does have major finance problems, then the creditors may become fed up and issue a claim in the county court (after following the required procedures as per CCA 1974 (amended)), if the poster cannot defend or has no real prospect of defence to the action, then the creditor could obtain CCJ, then charging order (you know the drill) and so these unsecured loans become secured on the property anyway.

 

If the poster has a good financial advisor, then he could arrange a new mortgage deal, based on among other things the equity in the property, all unsecured loans could be paid off either in full or if there are problems with the credit agreements then paid off in settlements, that would leave just the mortgage, utilities and basic living costs to pay out each month.

 

In time the property would increase in value and so equity in the property would increase also.

 

I think the poster is under a tremendous amount of stress, granted the creditors or DCA's are not important, but if their paperwork is good, then they could go down that road and make the poster's life absolute hell, you need only look at 'blackbear101's' story to find that out, yes, the CCA request or SAR first, then see where you are as far the creditors paperwork is concerened, £1 payments to all of them for now absolutely.

 

This story needs to unfold a bit more I think before the definitive course of action can be determined for the poster to take.

 

Kind Regards BRW

 

The Mould

[Undercover-Elsa]

All great advice, I would however urge that CCA requests are done as a priority in addition to the Subject Access Requests as Section 77/78 CCA requests carry more legal / OFT protection (for what it's worth!) than a delinquent SAR, if the creditors fail to comply, which at least helps to keep the creditors at bay.

 

Elsa x

Edited June 16, 2010 by Undercover-Elsa

[Rhia]

Also remember re Charging Orders (and I hope it never gets this far) but the Coalition Govt has or is bringing in a new rule that any amount under £25k should not be secured on property.

 

I have been in that situation fighting a charging order in court (and won BTW). However the trick is not to let it get that far. Negotiate hard with the creditors.

 

The big issue is you will have a screwed up credit report for the next six years but if you sort it out and keep your home and decent standard of living for your family then you will be the winner in the end.

 

We sure have all had to learn to deal with debt the hard way but I think we come out of this in a stronger position and realise we don't need all the goodies and debt we had been encouraged to go for.

[wilchil64]

Hello there wilchil,

You say you have equity in your property, can you re-mortgage and consolidate, that would make it all more manageable and you keep your home?

We don't have that much equity, owe 163K, should sell for 205K?

Do you have a relative that could raise a lump sum of money and then offer Full and Final Settlements to your creditors?

No, unfortunately not.

As mentioned by another cagger, send off a CCA request to your creditors, how old are these loans/credit cards?

Don't know how old they are, have been carting them from one 0% balance transfer card to another for years! Maybe 5 years ....?

Try not to worry, we will see what we can do for you, we will be here and provide you with the help and support and advice that you need, you will not have to face this on your own, alright.

Thank you. Sorry, haven't been able to log on this week, but thanks for your kind words. I feel desperate. We've just had to transfer another 1K from new low interest balance transfer card to the overdraft as payments were bouncing. Can't carry on like this.

The Mould

 

Have another estate agent valuing house on Monday, will instruct them to put on the market on Tuesday, as either way we have to move, either to smaller cheaper house or to rented accomm.

[wilchil64]

Hello The Mould!

On this issue, I regret, I must disagree with you. No offence intended.

Never, ever, turn unsecured Debt into Secured Debt. All this will do is move the Debt from someone who cannot take the Home, over to someone who can, and probably will if they get the slightest chance.

I would say make the existing Mortgage the top priority, pay that regardless, and fight absolutely everything else.

Surviving this bank induced recession is the key. One way is to crash stop all other payments, and let them have £1 a Month for now, or nothing at all unless they appear to have a binding Agreement.

Start building cash, and accept the Card, HP and Loan bankers will make a lot of noise, and will go through the usual steps of Harassment via Phone, Letter and Debt Collection Monkey. Just appreciate what that is for what it is, i.e. those with the least power will make the most noise.

Make sure Food, Fuel, Services, Mortgage and Council Tax are covered.

What is left should be accumulated and protected.

Keep saving, and keep looking for ways to reduce outgoings.

If any of the Unsecured Creditors get very hostile, then investigate a Full & Final Offer to get rid of them. That may by then be possible if some Cash has been accumulated by then.

 

Thanks for the advice, however I don't think I could cope with the stress of that, it is keeping me awake at night and I am suffering already from lack of sleep! I just want them off my back. I want an end to it.

 

Indeed, that may be the overall strategy. Pay them off, one by one, as they get more hostile.

The overall aim being to dump all Debt until you are left with just the Mortgage, and then see what you can do to get rid of that too.

This won't be easy, and it will mean a bumpy ride for the next 6 years or so, but the aim is to get to year 6-10 with almost no Debt except for a dwindling Mortgage.

Once you reach that stage, and look back, you will know it was good advice.

 

Cheers,

BRW

 

Thank you for your advice.

 

[wilchil64]

BRW is, as always, a source of solid advice. I agree with him entirely with regard to turning and unsecured debt into a secured one.

 

As I said before the loans and the credit cards are the real issue here. Attack those first and as as also been mentioned send for a copy of each agreement and see just what you have signed up for(if at all).

 

Perhaps an even better way is send for a full Subject Access Request for each loan and credit card debt but ensure you request specifically that they also supply the original agreement. Each request will cost £10 but you will get considerably more information than just a CCA request.

 

So, do you think, leave things as they are but aim to pay off the credit cards first, then pay off the loans ...?

 

But I have no excess money to do this? We are struggling to meet minimum payments now, not sure how I am going to be in a position to pay them off. I don't have the confidence to write to them making a monthly payment offer ... but don't have all the figures to hand to fill in the CCCS forms! Everything is just a mess!

 

Also, are you then suggesting that once the credit cards are somehow paid off, I pay off the loans early?

 

\thanks for your help.

[Undercover-Elsa]

I think by attack them the idea is to send CCA Requests to establish their validity and SAR s to establish whether there are any charges/PPI that can be reclaimed.

Elsa x

[wilchil64]

Wilchil

I know how hopeless things feel right now - but many of us here have been in a lot deeper debt - and are gradually climbing out of it.

I'll give you a brief history of my last 3 years - some of it might be relevant and helpful to you.

Firstly I found CCCS useful in terms of getting a case reference no - which gave me credibilty with creditors that I was trying to get things sorted out - and ideas on what creditors might accept (i.e. how low per month).

I found all except RBS/Direct line accepted frozen interest and affordable monthly payments. I am self employed and didn't have a regular monthly amount coming in - but just averaged out the weekly amounts into a nominal monthly amount to get an informal plan in place - no formal IVA. DMP or anything like that.

 

Did you go through CCCS with them writing to the companies offering lower monthly payments and requesting interest be frozen or did you do it yourself? did you just work out how much you have left a month and then divide it between the people you owed to?

 

I have made many sacrifices - not replacing my car - now 11 years old - no recent holidays, luxuries etc. - but I have made colossal inroads into my total debts via reclaiming charges, testing enforceability of CCA's, dodginess of DN'sand TN's and offerring low (35%) short settlement F&F's. I did remortgae to fund the F&F's - but I think at 35% or so it was a good idea. If any OC were to sue me I still have a lot of equity in my house - but have never had anything reach court so far and don't expect it to.

 

We only ever holiday in the UK apart from our honeymoon in 2007 which was 4 days in Paris in January, cheapest time of the year! We only replaced our car when it became too expensive to repair - husband made a bad move, buying from CArcraft! We no longer eat out or have coffees out, have stopped going to the pub etc, no more new clothes, unless my children need them and even then I try to buy from Ebay if possible. I have my weekly shop down to £50 with the odd £10 top up and milk and pet food on top of that. I have no bank charges left to reclaim, got some back from Barclays but A&L refusing to do anything.

 

What are DNs and TNs? and F&Fs?

There is a way out - but it needs a lot of work - and guts to field the phone calls and threatening letters etc. - but you won't be alone.

Good luck.

BD

b

\the problem is I am dealing with this alone as my husband has failed to see how serious this is - until now, I think I got through to him at last, but he is still rubbish at these things. I can't handle anymore stress now, I don't sleep and feel really depressed about it. I don't mind the work but haven't a clue where to start! I don't do phone calls - have phone phobia - but don't mind letters, but I start to tremble when I get letters from the banks now.

 

\thanks for your help.

 

[wilchil64]

If the poster has a good financial advisor, then he could arrange a new mortgage deal, based on among other things the equity in the property, all unsecured loans could be paid off either in full or if there are problems with the credit agreements then paid off in settlements, that would leave just the mortgage, utilities and basic living costs to pay out each month.

 

But if the property is worth £205K and we still owe £163K, is that enough to do anything about this? Will the mortgage company (the Halifax) lend us more money on the property? We struggled to get the mortgage we have in the first place!

 

In time the property would increase in value and so equity in the property would increase also.

I think the poster is under a tremendous amount of stress, granted the creditors or DCA's are not important, but if their paperwork is good, then they could go down that road and make the poster's life absolute hell, you need only look at 'blackbear101's' story to find that out, yes, the CCA request or SAR first, then see where you are as far the creditors paperwork is concerened, £1 payments to all of them for now absolutely.

 

Yes, I am under a huge amount of stress and can't cope much more. I just want the easiest and quickest way out now, can't stand much more. I have no idea where to start, dealing with this, I have the paperwork for most of the stuff but am scared to write with a request to freeze interest and offering lower payments, can't see them accepting it to be honest! Do they really sometimes accept these offers?

 

This story needs to unfold a bit more I think before the definitive course of action can be determined for the poster to take.

Kind Regards BRW

The Mould

 

Can I ask what you mean by the story needs to unfold a bit more?

 

[Undercover-Elsa]

You don't have to speak to them on the phone. In fact you should not. Just don't answer. If they catch you out refuse to go through the security questions, state that everything must be in writing from now on, and hang up.

If you have online access to your accounts, go on and change your phone number. You can sign up for a free voipfone number online, give them that number then all calls will go there and not to your home.There's an inbuilt message service which you can access online.

I was in exactly the same state as you two years ago, till I found CAG and realised I couldn't eat a clean credit file. I stopped all but priority payments and sent a CCA to all the creditors. I'm still here

Your confidence will build as you go along, but you just need to take control NOW before it gets any worse. You'll feel pounds better when you do. Get organised, send them all a CCA request, and we'll help you from there.

Elsa x

[wilchil64]

All great advice, I would however urge that CCA requests are done as a priority in addition to the Subject Access Requests as Section 77/78 CCA requests carry more legal / OFT protection (for what it's worth!) than a delinquent SAR, if the creditors fail to comply, which at least helps to keep the creditors at bay.

Elsa x

Thanks for your reply.

 

I am struggling with the abbreviations here - so many to get to grips with at once! What are CCA requests? what are Subject Access Requests? Section 77/78 CCA requests? OFT protection? SAR?

 

Sorry, am being dim, but it's like a foreign language!

 

 

[wilchil64]

Also remember re Charging Orders (and I hope it never gets this far) but the Coalition Govt has or is bringing in a new rule that any amount under £25k should not be secured on property.

I have been in that situation fighting a charging order in court (and won BTW). However the trick is not to let it get that far. Negotiate hard with the creditors.

The big issue is you will have a screwed up credit report for the next six years but if you sort it out and keep your home and decent standard of living for your family then you will be the winner in the end.

We sure have all had to learn to deal with debt the hard way but I think we come out of this in a stronger position and realise we don't need all the goodies and debt we had been encouraged to go for.

 

But what does it matter what my credit report is like if I'm not going to borrow any more money?

 

We already lost the decent standard of living and can barely meet the minimum payments now!

 

I agree, if we can get through this, we will be stronger and wiser, but can't see how to get through it at the moment.

 

I don't want the goodies anymore, all I really need is maybe a short (4 days) hols for £500 a year, a couple of colas in the pub once a week and maybe a takeaway once a month, plus be able to buy clothes for my children. I don't want much, but I do want to clear the debt for peace of mind.

 

[wilchil64]

You don't have to speak to them on the phone. In fact you should not. Just don't answer. If they catch you out refuse to go through the security questions, state that everything must be in writing from now on, and hang up.

If you have online access to your accounts, go on and change your phone number. You can sign up for a free voipfone number online, give them that number then all calls will go there and not to your home.There's an inbuilt message service which you can access online.

I was in exactly the same state as you two years ago, till I found CAG and realised I couldn't eat a clean credit file. I stopped all but priority payments and sent a CCA to all the creditors. I'm still here

Your confidence will build as you go along, but you just need to take control NOW before it gets any worse. You'll feel pounds better when you do. Get organised, send them all a CCA request, and we'll help you from there.

Elsa x

 

Thanks Elsa. I'm used to screening calls, so will carry on with that. I always write to people if I need to communicate with them.

 

What are the priority payments and what is a CCA? Are there templates on here? Sorry again, if being dim. Will go search now ...

 

I do need to take control, just don' t know where to start!

 

Thanks again.

[wilchil64]

By the way, sorry to everyone for the bundle of replies - I've had no access to the forum all week and had lots of messages to reply to at once!

[Undercover-Elsa]

Hi,

CCA Request = Consumer Credit Agreement Request, whereby you send a letter to the Credit Card/Loan/Catalogue Company requesting a copy of your credit agreement. They have 12 days from receipt to supply it. If they fail to do so you can legally withhold payment till they do.

Subject Access Request = A request for all the data the company holds on you..statements, computer records, correspondence etc. You'll see more about it if you hover your mouse over the words in black on your earler post.

We have template letters for CCA and SAR requests..the links are in my signature below. You need to enclose a £1 POSTAL ORDER with each request and send by recorded delivery. Save the receipts. Don't sign anything from now on..just hand print your name (fraud prevention)

We've all been there, you'll soon pick it up